Kids Say...

Laney has been pretty fussy all day, hasn't slept much, if at all and has been full of toots! I was talking to her and said "Laney, where did all that gas come from?"

Lucy says, "Mom, maybe she went and got some at the gas station like you and daddy do."

Preschool

Preschool. Our little Lucy is a preschooler as of Wednesday. She had a great time! Wednesday morning was a little rough to get her going...she is NOT a morning person. (She gets that from both Kevin and I.) But after some bribing, we finally got her fed, dressed, hair fixed, teeth brushed, etc. Then off we went.

I was a little nervous because sometimes she doesn't do all that good when being separated from us with people she doesn't know very well. And while I love how they do drop-off/pick up, I wasn't sure it was going to be a good scene with Lucy. We just drive up to the door, the teachers open the door, unbuckle her, get her out and off she goes. And she did GREAT!!! I was so proud of her! When we pick up it is pretty much the same thing! Makes it really nice not having to take Laney out of the car!

Her favorite part was playing on the playground. She also enjoyed her snack of goldfish, and was very proud of herself that she didn't spill any of her water. She even had homework!! The had traced their hands in class and then we had to write down her favorite part of the first day.

I think she is really excited about going to preschool, and hopefully she will do good next week as well!!

Kevin's Namesake

When my brother was in town earlier this week, he visited with some friends, Jason and Mindy. Mindy has a co-worker who recently adopted a little one. The older kids, maybe 5 and 3, are big Wingnuts fans and bigger Kevin Hooper fans. The boys decided that the new addition needed to be named after Kevin. Here is Kev's namesake: Hooper.

Isn't he cute?

Kevin and I both think it is something special that 2 little boys think so much of him, they wanted to have their dog named after him. These are the little things that make baseball even that much more fun!

Poor Lucy

Lucy woke up screaming at 1:30. Kevin put her back to bed.

Screaming again at 1:45. I laid with her til 2:10.

Again, screaming at 2:30. I laid with her again, trying to get her to tell me if she was hurting or scared. We had no idea if she had fallen out of bed and was hurt, had a nightmare or what was going on. She wouldn't stop crying long enough to tell us.

Finally, she told. Her ear hurt.

Motrin at 3, against her will. I slept with her restlessness til 7. Then she was ready to get up. She had gone to sleep at 11, after the ballgame, so I knew she was still pooped.

Called doctor at 8, had appointment at 8:30.

EAR INFECTION.

Left Walmart at 9:45 with a new Cinderella tea set for Lucy, a new toy for Laney and an antibiotic and eardrops.

It is now 2 pm. Lucy has had both her medicines and besides being tired, you wouldn't know anything was wrong.

Thank goodness. Tomorrow she is leaving with Nana and Papa to go to Bentonville to see her cousins. She would have been devastated if she couldn't go!

Landon's Here

Since Geoff had to be here today and tomorrow for work, he brought Landon up for a visit too! Lucy was a little confused and concerned at first that Claire wasn't coming, but she quickly got over it (after we told her she could go see her this weekend). I think I answered the question "When is Landon going to be here?" about 1000 times this morning.

As soon as Landon arrived at Nana's we headed down to play. Mom and I took the kids to a new playground that just opened. It is the greatest playground EVER. It is a boundless playground, designed to be to be used by all children. The surface is squishy, flat rubber that is awesome. There are slides, swings, climbing stuff, teeter-totters, even sand and water tables.

Lucy and Landon had such a great time running around with each other. They played forever in the sand area with the diggers. Mom and I decided that Papa needs to get one of those for his beach :) Also, the sprinklers were on and the kids were loving cooling off in the mist and put their toes in the spray! It was so cute to watch them together, they are going to be great buddies growing up!

He's Home....finally

4 cities, 20 some hours on a bus, 14 games and 13 days later Kevin is home. FINALLY.

The longest road-trip over the season, or maybe even the century is over. And it was the last road trip of the season :)

I am happy. Laney is happier. Lucy is the happiest.

Lucy has been all about Daddy since he walked in the door after a 10 hour bus ride this morning. She wants Dad to do everything and mom can just take care of Laney. The last few days she has begun getting a tiny attitude, and I think it was because she missed her Dad.

I think the last few days I had begun to get a tiny attitude as well because I missed her Dad. I feel like a giant weight was lifted off my shoulders when he got home. I don't mind him being gone usually...we manage. But after 2 weeks, my house was getting messy, the laundry piling up, the contents of the fridge and pantry shrinking, etc. I am so excited to have a sense of normalcy back!

Kev....we are so happy to have you home!

Sneaky Girl

To start of this story, I have to tell you that yes bink is back...again. After this happened, I thought we were free and clear from having to deal with a bink. But after 2 nights with no bink, Lucy went to spend the night at Nana's with her cousins. She knows where the extra binks are in Nana's room, and at bedtime went to the drawer and pulled 2 different kinds out. A pink one in a style she never liked and a white one in a smaller style of her favorite kind. According to Nana in went like this:

Pink one in, suck for a minute. Put it down.

White one in, suck for a minute. Put it down.

Pink one in, suck for a minute. Put it down.

Take white one, pop it in, then crawl into bed and go to sleep.

Me, feeling sorry for her because she did just become a big sister and maybe she was feeling some insecurity, went to Babies R Us the next day and replaced her favorite bink. It already has a hole in it, because she chews on it.

Now, that I've admitted that I gave in and let her have the bink again I can get to the purpose of my story.

Tonight she could not find her bink. This is interesting because bink and blanket are usually never more than a few inches from each other. And they are usually in her bed, our bed or on the couch. She only gets those things when she is resting. She has blanket in her bed, but no bink. It's getting late, I start looking around-- under the bed, in her pajama drawer, under the sofa cushions, in the toy box, even in the pantry.

I ask Lucy if she knew where it was. Her response was a long story, something like this:

"I took a nap today with it, then I woke up. Then I watched Noggin, then I played bubbles, then I ate dinner, then we went outside, then I put on my jammies and then I had blanket but I didn't have bink."

I go back into her room and this time I look under her pillow...yep, it's there. And then Lucy starts giggling.

"You found it mom."

"Lucy, did you know it was there?"

More giggling. I took that for a yes. Stinker...trying to get out of going to bed.

Friday Night Fun

Slides were slid down.

Bouncys were bounced in.

Footprints were printed.

Bubbles were blown.

The moon was pink.

For an August evening in Kansas, tonight was absolutely beautiful. The girls and I headed out back and just hung out for a long time. Laney was content just bouncing in her seat watching Lucy and Ribby chasing bubbles. And each other. Lucy wants to blow bubbles all the time now or have bubbles blown so she can pop them. The way she smiles and cackles at them is just the most adorable thing. The best part of the evening was when Lucy just stopped and looked at the sky and said in such a curious voice, "The moon is pink."

Olympic Fun

Waving to Laney!


Listening to Ms. Lori for directions!


Doing a knee scale balance on the beam!


A Gold Medalist in the Making!


Lucy has been taking gymnastics for 2 years now, and this week her class celebrated the Olympics. There skills were set up as Olympic events, and each student received a gold medal. Lucy looks forward to her class with Ms. Lori every week!

Lucy and I have been having such a great time this week watching the Beijing Olympics together. One night she even fell asleep in bed with me watching! Her favorites, and mine, are gymnastics and swimming. I have really been intrigued by watching the synchronized diving. That is just amazing. Last night I was watching women's gymnastics, and she runs in saying, "Mom, I am sorry I was late to watch the girls gymnastics with you." And all the swimming events are "swimming lessons" in her vocabulary.

2 Months

Little Miss Laney had her 2 month check up today.

Yep. 2 months. Where does the time go?

She weighed in at 11 lbs, and 21 3/4 inches long. At 2 months, Lucy was 12 lbs 3 oz and 22 inches long. So not only do the girls look the same, they're about the same size.

Laney got 3 shots today, which I think were harder on me. I just held her hands down and watched her facial expressions as she went from tired and calm to OUCH! It is so sad to see your baby hurt, and to make matters worse, she bled pretty bad from the first one. I didn't like seeing that at all.

Overall, Laney is doing great. Just a very happy, healthy baby.

Harley

It was a Sunday in November 2001, about 2 months after we put our lab Trump down. My parents, Kevin and I, and Kev's mom and stepdad were at the flea market at the Coliseum. All of us had separated, each looking for our own treasures. Mom comes running up to Kevin and I, she was so excited and we had to come quick.

We follow, trying to guess what she was happy about. Then we see Dad. Holding the cutest, little brown puppy. Dad had sucker written all over him. And he was loving every moment.

They brought Harley home and we all fell in love. Harley was such a cute puppy. He talked to us when he wanted something. He would tug at your arm to get you to feed him or give him a treat.

When Harley was about a year old Mom and Dad had taken him to Virginia for Thanksgiving. When they were ready to leave to drive back to Kansas, they called for Harley. He must have chased a deer and when he ran back across the road, he ran into a car.

Dad picked him up from the middle of the road, thinking that he didn't have a chance. But a trip to the emergency vet, and a long ride back to Kansas and Harley was still ticking. He suffered some brain damage, had a deer in the headlight look for about a month, and lost his voice. He also tore his ACL and had to have surgery.

Harley loved to watch you throw a ball, he would maybe go fetch it once, twice if you were lucky. He enjoyed wading in the lake, but not swimming. Harley loved being a lap dog, even though he was the size of a small pony. He would stretch out so that you could rub his massive belly, and he would keep pawing at you for more. Each time you walked into the house, he would gallop to the door and you would be greeted by a nudge with his nose, right in between the legs.

Mom and Dad always said that Harley was up for adoption, that if they found a good home for him, they would give him away. Truth of the matter is, they could never have done that. Harley was their baby.

Harley has always been a protective dog. With all the kids, he has slept in the bedroom with them when they were napping at Nana and Papa's. If we're swimming, Harley swam right next to them. The kids, especially Claire, my niece, have loved and tormented that dog. They ride him like a horse because after all, he weighed 110 lbs on a light day.

But Harley's protectiveness had started to get to be too much. He wouldn't let anyone in the driveway or yard. That meant the postman, the fedex driver, the yard guys, etc. If he didn't know you, you weren't coming in. He would show his teeth and bark, and with his size, scare people off. He was beginning to become aggressive.

This past Sunday, while trying to get Harley into the garage, he bit Dad. We also learned that Harley had gone after Mom a few times as well. They talked with our vet, who said that his aggressiveness would only get worse with age. My parents knew that they couldn't take the risk of him going after anyone else, much less one of the kids. So today, they made the very difficult decision to put Harley down.

Mom and Dad, know that we think you made the right decision. We know how difficult it is, but you did the right thing. The risks outweigh the benefits. Harley had a great life. He was a part of our family and always will be. Just think, now Harley is playing in Doggie Heaven with Trump...what a combination.

Road Trip, Part 2

Lucy jamming to her tunes in the car.
The view from the 15th floor. We could see the ballpark and Memorial Stadium.

Lucy said, "I can see the entire city."
Riding the carousel.
Look at me sitting by myself!
Sisterly love.

The return trip didn't start off so good, but overall went smoothly. We stopped once 40 minutes after we started and then just cruised the rest of the way. We had a great time just hanging out with Daddy, and it was worth all the screaming and the famous question I heard hundreds of times "Mom, when are were going to be home?"

Road Trip, Part 1

Kevin left at 7am Monday for a 13 day road trip.

I just kept thinking...13 days. What am I going to do for 13 days.

I'll tell you what I did for 3 of those days...I packed the girls up and we headed north to Lincoln to be with Kevin for the first stint of his long trip. Lucy had Mom's Day Out till 1:30, so we hit the road around 2:30.

At 3, we hadn't left Valley Center yet...had already had to stop to use the restroom while getting gas, and of course Laney was crying. Hard. And loud.

But, I kept going, by the time I got the highway I was second guessing my spontaneous decision. By 3:15 Lucy was singing along with her headphones, and Laney was asleep.

Fast forward 2 hours later. Laney was crying again, Lucy was trying to sleep and we were just entering Nebraska. Thank goodness for GPS finding us a place to eat. We stopped and ate some yummy Pizza Hut pizza, let Laney get out of her seat for awhile and eat and just relaxed.

The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful. That is until we hit the parking garage. When I pulled in the antenna hit the bar...I honestly had no idea if I was going to make it. Thank goodness an employee was walking by and waved me on in. I held my breath and hit the gas...and cleared it. It honestly is the smallest parking garage, with the tightest turns I've ever experienced. There is a yellow line to follow to make the turns without hitting the cement walls. It is like driving an airplane...I need someone to direct me with those little wands.

Part 2, with pictures will arrive later this week.

And she crashes...

It is HOT here. Hot as in the weather channel website said it felt like 106 degrees at 3 pm this afternoon.

The heat means that we stay inside, or in the water. Lucy did both today. She played hard inside this morning and after lunch, dancing to the Wiggles, making a pillow pool on the floor and diving into it, dragging all of her stuffed animals onto her bed to once again dive into. But all that playing inside didn't wear her out enough to make her want to fall asleep for a nap. Yes, she rested for a bit, but never fell asleep.

Kevin took her the pool after her "rest" and his nap this afternoon. I watched from the house and she was a maniac jumping into the pool...I never realized she could jump so far. I think she might be a long jumper in the future :)

Anyways, after all the playing and swimming, it was dinner time. She didn't want to sit down and eat, so she started crying and was sent to her room. When the cries stopped, Kevin went to check on her and found this

at 6:45.

So Big!!!

Mommy and Daddy keep saying how big I'm getting...notice my double chin?
I love tummy time!!!

Laney will be 8 weeks old on Monday! My how time flies! She really has gotten so much bigger. She loves being on her tummy, being held and eating! She still hates her carseat and doesn't seem to care for her swing or bouncy too much either. She is also holding her head up good, and is starting to show us smiles and talking to us.

We are getting more sleep lately, the last 2 nights she has slept 7-8 hours in a stretch. But, she has also worn herself out crying in the car. She cries the entire way home from the ballpark EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. And it's about a 20 minute drive. I just turn the radio up for Lucy and I and keep on going.